My weekend long run was 25K/15.5M. It was only my 2nd time running this distance, but truthfully, I wasn’t nervous about it. I’m used to 21K-23Ks, so 25K shouldn’t pose too much of a challenge, I thought. I was wrong, it was a tough run.
As I was about 1.5KM/1M into the run, a couple approached running in the other direction, both looked about 40 years old and very fit. When we were just a few feet apart the woman passed out and fell on the floor, with her body convulsing and white foam coming out of her mouth. They both didn’t have a phone, and neither did I, and the boardwalk was deserted because it was still fairly early. I went down to the beach where there was a young guy listening to music, and asked to borrow his phone to call the ambulance.
I obviously didn’t get to talk much with the guy who had been running with the woman, in the few minutes we waited for the ambulance we just tried to figure out how she was holding up, we kept checking her breathing and seeing if she opened her eyes, but he told me they didn’t know each other well, and he didn’t know any of her family members to call and let them know what had happened.
I know from now on I’ll be running either with my phone or with my personal details in case of an emergency.
After they left in the ambulance, it had been about 15 minutes since I had stopped running, so I figured I’d start counting the 25K again.
I ran the first 17K/10.5M at an easy pace, average 05:14 Min/KM (08:25 Min/Mile), and the last 8K/5M as fast finish, average pace 04:40 Min/KM (07:31 Min/Mile). This was pretty much what I had in mind for this run, so I’m glad I was able to pull the fast finish off as planned, but my legs were feeling it big time.
I was a sweaty mess when I was done, and it was only 08:40 AM on a relatively nice day, it wasn’t too hot. I even used the seat cover I got at a race to drive back home, it would have been disgusting to sit directly on the car seat.
My legs were sore all day afterwards, I don’t think they had been that sore since my first race. I wonder if it was the distance, the fast finish, the kind of warm weather.. it worries me that this run was so tough. Marathon training is a long way away, but if 25K felt like this, how will I ever run a marathon?
Average pace of the total run was 05:03 Min/KM (08:07 Min/Mile), which comparing with the only previous time I ran 25K is 4 seconds faster per KM (7 seconds faster per mile). Not exactly a big difference, but maybe one of the reasons for the soreness. Or the fact that overall I ran 26.5K/16.5M, although I’m counting only the last 25K.
I tried to pay attention to recovery for the rest of the day, eating healthy food and drinking a lot of water during the day.
My husband and I had some errands to run afterwards, but we didn’t have to walk much, gladly. We even took his motorcycle, so we could park right by where we had to be, and not even have to walk to/from the parking lot or the street. He drives one to work because traffic is crazy to Tel Aviv where he works.
I was at the grocery store and bought some apple vinegar, it’s supposed to help with soreness, sounds crazy but I’m willing to try.
Finished our afternoon at the port, eating dinner with the family. Taking every possible opportunity to rest my legs, I have a couple of hard runs scheduled for this week, a tempo and an interval.
We went out for beer at night, that worked for sure. And I foam rolled after we came back, yes, even after a night out and a few beers I make foam rolling a priority.
Would you ride a motorcycle, for fun, or if it made sense due to traffic/cost/etc.?
Is there a distance or time length when your run becomes really tough?
2 Cups 'N Run 